Here are the latest local, regional and national headlines on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) for Thursday, July 9, 2020:
- There have been 36,178 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Ontario, an increase of 118 (or 0.3 per cent) from the previous day. There are 31,805 people recovered from the virus while 2,700 people have died. The number of Ontario people tested is 1,582,361 of which 17,116 have pending results.
- Canada’s coronavirus case total is 106,434. The country has 8,737 deaths from the virus – 186 in British Columbia, 158 in Alberta, 15 in Saskatchewan, seven in Manitoba, 2,700 in Ontario, 5,603 in Quebec, two in New Brunswick, three in Newfoundland & Labrador and 63 in Nova Scotia.
- The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit region remains at 354 cases and 52 deaths. Three hundred cases have resolved. There have been 54 community cases in Leeds-Grenville with one active case in western Leeds-Grenville.
- The Eastern Ontario Health Unit region has added another case in the City of Cornwall, to bring the regional total to 166 cases. The Cornwall case is a woman in her 70s, according to the EOHU’s interpretation of iPHIS data. Of those regional positive cases, 151 have recovered. Two people are in hospital. There have been 11 deaths to date. Testing increased by 569 to 19,413.
- Premier Doug Ford announced new legislation to get Ontario back to work. The COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act will ramp up manufacturing and fast-track infrastructure building. “Ontario-made means something more these days,” Ford said. For municipalities, the act would allow meetings to continue electronically even after COVID-19. Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark says the act would give municipalities the “ability to choose to allow their members to vote by proxy.”
- The federal government’s fiscal “snapshot” shows the deficit will possibly reach $343 billion this fiscal year. The Trudeau Liberals expect roughly two million Canadians to remain jobless this year.
- The deputy health officer of Canada says the term “airborne” can be misleading. Doctor Howard Njoo says there’s no evidence so far that novel coronavirus transmission acts the same as measles.
- Via Rail is temporarily laying off roughly 1,000 employees due to fewer people taking the train during the pandemic. The layoffs take effect July 24, according to a company statement.
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